In the past I've helped Woodlife Trails as a course assistant and I think it was JP who started everyone off using a Primus non-stick saucepan and now I don't think there's a Woodlife Trails member who doesn't have one.
This Primus saucepan link doesn't illustrate where I purchased mine from but it shows that the metal handled one is the version used here, not the two part plastic covered one which wouldn't work in a fire. Did I say in a fire? Yes, I did.
The metal one is fairly long and has a simple locking device that works with the handles being squeezed into a couple of slots and then a locking slide is pushed into place. Failure to push the slide down could see your dinner flip into the fire!
And here's where it gets a bit pictorial as it's good to go once the handle is locked into place, and being non-stick it is easy to clean after use. The no metal utensils applies of course and it does have one limitation but more what I've done about it later. Not all the meals are ones I've done but the pictures are mine.
Beef stew with Guinness and added potatoes for that all in one meal. I often bring meals that I've prepped in my vacuum sealer and frozen which means it can not only act as an impromptu ice block but can slowly defrost for tea.
I absolutely love bannocks when out and about and think it is an essential breakfast food. I have drilled two holes in a zebra billy 'dish' rim so that I can prop it up in front of a fire with two sticks however the Primus saucepan cooks a bannock evenly, especially if the pan or bannock is twisted around during cooking.
The bannocks shown above both have self raising flour, milk powder, milk a pinch of baking powder and sultanas, but one has sugar in and is topped with winnowed plantain seeds and the other was made using vanilla sugar.
On the right is a cooked mixed breakfast of egg, bannock, jerky strips and bacon. All the ingredients were prepped in the saucepan except the jerky. Being non-stick eggs and bacon are a doddle to do.
This picture suggests it was peak time at breakfast with a bit of bannock, bacon egg and sausage action going on. Note the long handle protrudes nicely away from the fire. Also note the use of a rather natty trivet which again most members have (see the link for how to get one).
Maybe a quick or light lunch is required, again no problem. This is a scrambled eggs with bacon and chorizo meal scoffed with a plain pre-cooked bannock (did I say that I like bannocks?).
And this is home made Alexanders soup, again brought out to a course via my vacuum sealer and the above picture was taken with the pouches visible. The second pouch had some cooked potatoes in that I had spare after a meal and they went in the soup to make it more filling.
And onto a sizable tea. The pan on the left contains shop purchased sliced potato (an ambient vacuum packed one that says cook in a non stick pan on the packet), sliced snacking chorizo (which again doesn't need chilling), barbecued chicken done at home which I diced and then froze, and as before it was a vacuum packed 'ice block' on the weekend. I rather overdid the amounts and this was effectively one-and-a-half meals to give the pan some scale.
The right hand side meal is another non-chilled one from the 'Look what we found' range, namely chilli con carne. They are useful but size wise they don't really sustain on their own so this is accompanied by a pouch of boil-n-the-bag rice, and therein lies the only issue with this otherwise fantastic saucepan.
The wide diameter and shallow sides that facilitate effortless fried eggs mean that rice, or any other boil in the bag food isn't easy to do in the saucepan. Previously I used to bring a small zebra billy but I find a trusty metal Crusader cup does a fine job wit the rice whilst the Look What we Found meal is de-pouched and gently warmed through for tens minutes. The Crusader fits (with a plastic brew cup) on an Osprey water bottle so doesn't really take up room. The plastic and metal lids at the bottom of the picture are for the Crusader cup and the latter one not only speeds up the boil but if a stick is inserted through the ring on the top the cup can ve inverted to allow the water to drain out the steam holes.
No plate is needed because the saucepan can be used as a round shallow style army ration tin to eat from (again remembering about metal cutlery), or the Crusader cup is usable too otherwise. I use a roughly made leather bag that I made for the afore mentioned trivet as a mat to put the hot pot on your knee.
And just for balance it also does the job it is intended to do, namely sit atop a Primus stove! Sausages in the woods with the kids in time honoured fashion.
Did I mention bannocks at all?
All in all not bad for a saucepan designed for a gas ring. I've actually written to Primus to tell them about this usage...Finally have a look at Pablo's review here.
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